Air-brake apparatus.



H. F. BIGKEL.

AIR BRAKE APPARATUS.

APPLICATION iILED JUNE 22, 1908.

91 5, 1 55 7 Patented Mar. 16, 1909.

2 $HEETSSHEET 2.

UNITED STATEh? Ii .lQE.

F BICKEL, OF NEWYOBK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO NEW YORK AIR BRAKE COMPANY, A

CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

AIR-BRAKE APPARATUS.

Specifiation of Letters Patent.

Patented March l6, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Beiftsknown that I, HENRY F. Brown, a citizen of the United States, residing .in New York, in the county of New York and State offllew York, have invented an Improvement in Air-Brake Apparatus, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to air brake alpparatus of the kind generally known as t v automatic air brake, and is shown as emabout the have with which the brakes may bodied in a system which comprises, in addition to; the elements of an automatic air brake system such as heretofore most generally used, apipe'or duct, hereinafter called a cohtrol pipe, which vis charged with air at (pressure normally carried in the system, an is connected and. combined with a triple valve having provision for admitting air from the said control pipe to the auxiliary reservoir when the latter is in the operation of releasing'the brakes One ofthe objects of the present invention is to provide for a variable release of the brakes whereby they either may be released promptly, as is usually practiced in operating the automatic system, or may be released slowly to provide for a reduction in braking pressure, when desired, without promptly releasin the brakes, so that after the brakes iecn applied, the car or cars may be caused to run afarther distance before stopping, without the necessity of Wholly releasing and reapplying the brakes.

The instmmentalit'ies involved in the attainment.of this object also provide for recharging the auxiliary reservoirs from the control pipe, in addition to the usual charging from the train pipe past the triple valve piston, and thus increase the promptness be applied after having been. released.

'Fgure l is a diagram view illustrating a sulhcieirt portion of a car equipment to afford an understanding of the inven-tien Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section, on line as", Fig.3, of the triple valve; Fig. 3 is a transverse section, on line a", Fig. 2., of the triple valve; 4 is a plan view of the graduating valve; Fig. -5 is a pl-anwiew of the main valve proper-,- Fig. 6 is a lan view of the valve seat of the triple Va vs Fig. '7 is a longitudinal sectional detail,

to be charged, as

on line Fig. 3, but with the partsin a different position from that shown in Fig. .2 and Fig. 8 is a similar detail, on line 00 of Fig. 3, showing the main and graduating valves in release position, the same as in Fig. 2.

Referring to the diagram, Fig. 1, the system comprises a compressor 2 and main reservoir in one or more sections 3, which may be of any suitable or usual construction, and may contain a supply of compressed air at a higher pressure than that used in the braking system.

Air is delivered from the main reservoir 3 through a feed valve or reducing valve 4 into the duct 5, herein called the control pipe, which thus remains constantly charged to the pressure desired to he maintained in the braking system, say, for example, seventy pounds to the square inch. The control pipe extends to the engineers valve 6, which may be of'any, suitable or usual construction, having provision whereby, in one position, air passes directly from the control pipe 5 into the brake pipe or train pipe 7, while in another position communication 'betweensaid pipes 5 and 7 is cut oil and the train-pipe 7 is placed communication the atmosphere to provide for a gradual escape of air therefrom, and in still another position a free escape from the train pipe Y to the atmosphere is provided to cause a sudden reduction in train pipe pressure to produce an emergency application of the brakes, as usual in automatic air brake systems. There is also the usual lap position in which all of, said communications are cut oilor closed. The control pipe 5 also has a branch 50 leading through a shut-oil coc k 51 to the triple valve ii which branch 50 supplies certain ports, controlled by the triple valve as will be hereinafter described, witliair at the control ipe pressure. The pipe 7 has a branch 70 leadingto the triple valve, and the latter has the usual connection 11 with the brake cylinder "12 through which air is admitted to and exhausted from the brake cylinder under control of the triple valve, which, hesides having. certain novel structural features 7 and functi ns, which will be hereinafter described, operates in the usual manner to -connect the auxiliary reservoir with the brake vcylinder to apply the-brakes :vvhen train pipe pressure is see than the auxiliary reservoir nOSSU16, and to I connect the brake cylinder with an exhaust port to the atmosphere to release-the brakes when train pipe pressure is greater than auxiliary reservoir pressure, and at the same time to establish the communication from the train pipe to the auxiliary reservoir by which the latter is recharged.

Referring now to the triple valve structure, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, said triple valve comprises a piston 20 subjected on one side (the left hand side in said figure) to train 'ipe pressure which is admitted to the chamjier 21 of the triple valve structure through the port 22, shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2, said piston working in a cylinder having the usual feed groove 23, through. which train pipe air passes to the other side of the piston when the train pipe pressure is in excess of the pressure in the auxiliary reservoir, which latter communicates directly with the main chamber 24 of the triple valve, so that air passing from the train pipe chamber 21 through the feed groove 23, charges the auxiliary reservoir until the pressure therein equals that in the train pipe, in the usual manner. The stem 25 of the triple valve piston connects with thv graduating'valve 26 which accompanies the movement of the triple valve piston in either direction, and said stem is provided with collars or projections 28 which engage the main valve 29, after the short movement of the triple valve piston which causes a shifting of the graduating valve relative to the main valve, in the usual manner.

The se it of the main valve has a port 30 (see Figs. 2 and 7) leading to a space 31 which connects with the brake cylinderpipe 11, and said seat also has an exhaust port 32 communicating with the passage 33 leading to the atmosphere, and the main valve 29 has a cavity 34 which, when the piston 20 is moved to release position by increasing'train pipe pressure above auxiliaryreservoir pressure, communicates with the exhaust port 32, as shown in Fig. 2. Said cavity 34 communicates with a through port 39 opening into the seat of the graduatv which, when the said main valve is in release position, communicates with the brake cylinder port 30, so that with the parts in the position shown in Fig. 2, assumed when train pipe pressure is greater than the pressure in the auxiliary reservoir, a free and relatively large exhaust passage is aflorded from the brake cylinder to the atmosphere through pasages 30, 41, 40-, 39, 34, 32, 33, and the brakes are released promptly, as usual.

In order to provide for a relatively slow release oi .he brakes, provision is made for increasing the auxiliary reservoir pressure above train pipe pressure after the atter has been sufliciently increased above auxiliary reservoir pressure to move the parts to the release position shown in Fig. 2, which is dor c by admitting air to the train pipe by the manipulation of the engineers valve in the usual manner, and then placing the engineers valve in the lap position so as to retain the train pipe pressure without further increase at a point 'Fig. 3) in the triple valve shell, communicating with a groove 56 (see Fig. 2) surrounding the bushing containing the valve seat, and communicating with the port'57 through the valve seat. The main valve 29 is provided with a through port 58 which, when said valve is in release position, communicates with said port 57, and is also uncovered by the graduating valve 26, as is shown in Fig. 8. Thus, when the piston 20 is moved to the'release position, as shown in Figs 2 and 8, air not only feeds from the train pipe through the feed groove 23 into the auxiliary reservoir, but also from the control pipe through. passages 55, 56, 57, 58 into the auxiliary reservoir, and, consequently, it the train pipe pressure, after being raised to move the triple valve to release position,-is retained without further increase, as by placing the engineers valve in lap position, as above described, the additional air feeding from the control pipe through the feed port 58 into the auxiliary reservoir will quickly bring the pressure in the latter to an amount slightly in preponderance over train pipe pressure and sufficiently so to initiate the movement of the piston 20 toward the left in Figs. 2 and 8, or toward the usual position for making an application of the brakes. In this movement-of the triple valve piston, the graduating valve 26, moving on the main valve (beforethe flange or collar 28 of the piston rod 25 engages the main valve) will close the feed port 58 through the main valve, and thus prevent further increase of auxiliary reservoir pressure, the preponderance of which over train pipe pressure will, therefore, be only suflicient to move the graduating valve on the main valve, which latter will prevent further movement of the triple valve piston when the collar 28 engages the mainvalve. This movement of the graduating valve on the main valve will also move the exhaust cavity 40 (see Fig. 2) out of connnu nication with the through port 41 in the main valve, thus closingthe direct or free exhaust passage "from the brake cylinder before described. A relatively small passage 42- is provided in the main valve connecting the through port 41 with the cavity 34, and, consequently, when the main or free exhaust passage is thus cut off by the graduating valve, a small or restricted exhaust is afforded from the brake cylinder by passages 30, 42, 34, 33, and the braking pressure in the brake cylinders is-reduced relatively slowly, and, consequently, the brakes are not released promptly as would be the case if the train pipe pressure were permitted to rise, as in the-usual Way of perforating the release operation. I

If the train pipe pressure is left unchanged after it has been controlled, as above described, to cause a slow release of the brakes, the latter will ultimately bewholly released, but if, during the exhaust from the brake cylinder and release operation, it is desired to increase the braking pressure, this may be done in the usual manner by reducing train pipe pressure; but if it is desired to complete the release of the brakes promptly, this may be done in the usual manner by admitting air to the train pipe so as to charge it up to the normal pressure to be carried therein. J i

The feed port 58 from the control pipe is open only in the full release position of both the main and graduating valves, and besides serving toefiect the slow release of the brakes, as has been described, it serves to recharge the auxiliary reservoir more promptly than is" provided for by the usual feed grooves 23, if acting alone, as in the usual construction, so that successive applications of the brakes may be made at very short intervals of time, if occasion should require, as is desirable for street car service, or, under similar condi tions, where frequent stops have to be made and the brakes have'to be manipulated frequently and promptly for the proper control of the car or train.

The application of the brakes is made in. the usual manner by reducing train pipe pressure by permitting air to escape through the engineers' valve 6 (see Fig. 1) so thatauxiliary reservoir pressure on the piston 20 preponderates and moves said piston toward the left, from the position shown in Fig. 2, said piston first shifting the graduating valve 1 26 on the main valve 29 to the relative position shown in Fig. 7, in which movement the ;said graduating valve uncovers the service port 35 in the mainvalve, as shown in Fig, 7, and after the graduating valve-has thus been shifted on the main valve, the collar" 28 engages the main valve and shifts it on thevalve seat tothe position shown in Fig. 7-, this movement shifting the cavity 34 of the main valve so that it no longer connects the brake cylinderport 30 with the exhaust port 32, and at the same time b-ringingthe service .cylinder port 30, so that air now flows past the graduating valve 26 through the ports 35 and 30 from the auxiliary reservoir to the brake cylinder to apply the brakes. When, in response to such flow, auxiliary reservoir pressure becomes slightly lower than the reduced train pipe pressure established by the manipulation of the engineers valve, the triple valve piston moves toward the right, which shifts the graduating valve 26 .on the main valve so as to close the port 35, which stops further rcduction in auxiliary reservoir pressure, so that no furthermovement takes place until train pipe pressure is further reduced to causemore air to flow into the brake cylinder, or is increased to cause the release of the brakes, this portion of the apparatus operating the same as in the usual automatic system, except for the provision for making a slowrelease of the brakes by admitting a definite increase in train pipe pressure and then retaining it Without further increase, as'has been explained.

In an emergency application, the .air is permitted to escape from the train pipe rapidly, which causes the movement ofthe triple valve piston and connected valves be .yond the service position, in Which moveemergency piston 45 (see Fig. 3') which then unseats the emergency valve 46 and permits. air from the,train pipe chamber 21 to open the check valve 47 and pass the said check valve and the emergency valve 46 into the chamber 31, and thence to the-brake cylinder which is thus promptly charged by air from the train pipe and from the auxiliary reservoir,.as ort 48 in the main valve is then in communication with the port 30.

iliary reservoir into the brake cylinder! The component-herein referred to as the control pipe may be any duct or receptacleadapted to remain supplied-with corn ressed through which the air. passes from the aux-i y air ata pressure approximately equa to the I pressure normally carried in the system (tram ipe and auxiliaryreservoirs)- when the bra es are released.

I claim. y

The combination with the train pipe, auxiliary reservoir, brake cylinder of an air brake apparatus, and a control pipe or duct adapted to be supplied with compressed air; of'a triple valve, having a main valve provided with relatively large and exhaust port respectively, and a relatively small passage connecting said ports in the main valve, and-a graduating valve which inoneposition relative to the main valve afiordsj a relatively large connection orts adapted to communicate with the-brake cylinder port eat between said ports in the main valve, and in another position revents communication except by the sme connecting passage, and a passage from the control pipe to the auxiliary reservoir controlled by said gm'dueting valve, substantially as and for the pur- I pose described.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

HENRY F. BICKEL. Witnesses:

E. A. JOHNSON, E. G. PIERCE. 

